Financial Survey of Canadian Water Carriers

Detailed information for 2008

The survey collects financial and operational data from Canadian-domiciled water carriers.

Data release - April 8, 2010

• Description
• Data sources and methodology
• Data accuracy

Description

The survey collects financial and operational data from Canadian-domiciled water carriers. The data are used as input to the Canadian System of National Accounts, by Transport Canada and other federal and provincial government departments, by transportation companies, consulting firms and universities. The information is used for the analysis of transportation activity, for marketing and economic studies, and industry performance measures.

Statistical activity

This statistical activity is part of a set of surveys measuring various aspects of activities related to the movement of people and goods. These surveys are grouped as follows:

Transportation by air includes records related to the movement of aircraft, passengers and cargo by air for both Canadian and foreign air carriers operating in Canada as well as the financial and operating characteristics of Canadian air carriers. These data are produced by the Aviation Statistics Centre.

Transportation by rail includes records relating to rail transportation in Canada, and between the United States and Canada.

Transportation by road includes records relating to all road transport in Canada. In addition to surveying carriers and owners of registered motor vehicles, certain programs rely on aggregation of provincial and territorial administrative records.

Reference period: Calendar year

Subjects

• Transportation
• Transportation by water

Data sources and methodology

Target population

The target population includes all companies domiciled in Canada whose principal activity is marine transport as defined in sub-sector 483 of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), with reported operating revenues or expenses of $500,000 or more. This population includes for-hire, government and own account carriers. Their vessels may be registered in Canada or abroad and their activities may or may not take place in Canadian ports. Excluded from the target population are companies that operate private pleasure craft, fishing boats, defence vessels, tour boats and bareboat charters.

Instrument design

Not applicable.

Sampling

This survey is a census with a cross-sectional design.

Data are retrieved for all units of the target population, therefore no sampling is done.

Data sources

Data are extracted from administrative files.

In order to produce the required estimates, regression models were created based on the relationship between tax data and the survey data using reference year 2007 data. Models were created for the variables: transportation revenue, total revenue, salaries and wages, transportation expenses, total expenses, total asset and total liability. The remaining variables were derived from standard accounting relationships: the variable non-transportation revenue equals total transportation revenue minus transportation revenue and the variable non-transportation expenses equals total transportation expenses minus transportation expenses.

Since some units were missing the tax data necessary to include them in the model, an inflation index ratio was applied to compensate. This inflation index ratio not only inflated the estimate to apply to the entire population, but also had the additional property of calibrating the total estimate to the 2007 published estimate.

Error detection

Several checks were performed on the tax data to verify internal consistency and identify extreme values. Extreme values were reviewed and corrective action taken. These extreme values were excluded from use in the model calculation.

Imputation

No imputation is done for this statistical program.

Estimation

This methodology type does not apply to this statistical program.

Quality evaluation

Survey results were analyzed at both the micro and macro level. At the micro level, checks were performed on the data to verify internal consistency and identify extreme values. At the macro level, the data were subjected to a detailed quality review process, including comparing with the annual reports published by the companies. Material errors were thereby identified and corrected.

Disclosure control

Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from releasing any information it collects which could identify any person, business, or organization, unless consent has been given by the respondent or as permitted by the Statistics Act. Various confidentiality rules are applied to all data that are released or published to prevent the publication or disclosure of any information deemed confidential.

If necessary, data are suppressed to prevent direct or residual disclosure of identifiable data. Data for a specific industry or variable may be suppressed (along with that of a second industry or variable) if the number of enterprises in the population is too low.

Revisions and seasonal adjustment

Annual estimates are provided for the reference year. The data for the previous reference year are revised if necessary. As this is an annual program, seasonal adjustments are not applicable.

Data accuracy

Every effort is made to ensure that administrative data are conceptually correct for the use to which they are put. Any anomalies or inconsistencies detected are verified with the source, and where necessary, adjustments are made to reconcile data with the conceptual framework of our series. The administrative agencies used are considered to be the best source available, and data received from them is judged to be of very good quality, even in those circumstances where adjustments have been made.